Alaafin Slams Reliance On Oil Economy, Defends Cultural Tourism

The Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has expressed reservations about Nigeria’s over-reliance on the oil sector rather than cultural tourism as the primary driver of the country’s economy.

In a Friday statement signed by his spokesperson, Bodo Durojaiye, the Monarch argued that cultural tourism is important in boosting the country’s economy and a way of diversifying from the oil sector, highlighting the strong need to shift focus from oil to tourism..

Speaking during this year’s Iyake International Festival at Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Oba Owoade, while expressing the need to shift focus from oil to tourism, stressed the significance of reviving old culture, values and traditions.

The statement also revealed that Oba Owoade called for the unity of all Yorubas to bring back the values and cultural heritage of the race.

According to him, “the graduation of the Asian Tigers, particularly China, from underdeveloped countries to developed countries was culture-driven. The root of Chinese development success was in the 1965-1968 cultural revolution that was meant to restore the cultural principles of the Chinese people and revolutionise political opinion and behaviour.

“Today, China is one of the strongest economies in the world, a courtesy of its development efforts driven by cultural rejuvenation and revolution. The foundation of our efforts at development must be the rejuvenation, protection and appreciation of our cultural heritage, which will be the bedrock of selling it to outsiders.

“If we do not appreciate our own cultural values, there is no way we can harness them for our development. We must strive to maximise the economic opportunities of our cultural artefacts and festivals for our development. All these can be developed to meet international tourist standards and thus yield enormous foreign earnings to our governments at various levels. In the first instance, there would be a stimulation of rural development since most of the tourist attraction areas are located in rural areas.

“In the second, it would also lead to a drastic reduction in rural-urban migration and human congestion in the urban centres, which is one of the major economic problems of the contemporary Nigerian state because of employment opportunities and income generation that will be opened up for rural dwellers.”

The Alaafin, who was accompanied by his Queen Consort, Ayaba Abiwunmi, cited the instance of the Yoruba, which possessed famous traditions of art, precisely because they had productive economies and vibrant commercial systems, which allowed artists and craft workers freedom from scarcity and provided access to metals, woods and clay sculpture.